Method of manufacturing rfid devices

ABSTRACT

A method of making RFID devices includes feeding in an interposer web or sheet at a variable (non-constant) speed, cutting single interposers from the interposer web or sheet, and using a rotary transport device to transport the singulated (cut) interposers to an antenna web. The interposers are transferred from the rotary transport device and are attached to the antenna web, being operatively coupled to antennas on the antenna web. The interposers each include an RFID transponder chip and conductive leads. A feeder is used to advance the interposer web or sheet into a cutting zone between the rotary cutter and the rotary transport device. The rotary cutting device may be capable of singulating multiple interposers at one time, and the system may be capable of thus being able to remove interposers that are not to be joined to the antenna web.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/315,504filed Dec. 22, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of radio frequency identification(RFID) devices, and a method of manufacturing such devices.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

RFID tags and labels have a combination of antennas and analog and/ordigital electronics, which may include for example communicationselectronics, data memory, and control logic. RFID tags and labels arewidely used to associate an object with an identification code. Forexample, RFID tags are used in conjunction with security-locks in cars,for access control to buildings, and for tracking inventory and parcels.Some examples of RFID tags and labels appear in U.S. Pat. Nos.6,107,920, 6,206,292, and 6,262,692.

RFID tags and labels include active tags, which include a power source,and passive tags and labels, which do not. In the case of passive tags,in order to retrieve the information from the chip, a “base station” or“reader” sends an excitation signal to the RFID tag or label. Theexcitation Signal energizes the tag or label, and the RFID circuitrytransmits the stored information back to the reader. The “reader”receives and decodes the information from the RFID tag. In general, RFIDtags can retain and transmit enough information to uniquely identifyindividuals, packages, inventory and the like. RFID tags and labels alsocan be characterized as those to which information is written only once(although the information may be read repeatedly), and those to whichinformation may be written during use. For example, RFID tags may storeenvironmental data (that may be detected by an associated sensor),logistical histories, state data, etc.

Methods for manufacturing RFID labels are disclosed in PCT PublicationNo. WO 01/61646 by Moore North America, Inc. The method disclosed in PCTPublication No. WO 01/61646 uses a number of different sources of RFIDinlets, each inlet including an antenna and a chip. A plurality of websare matched together and RFID labels are die cut from the webs, toproduce RFID labels with liners. Alternatively, linerless, RFID labelsare produced from a composite web with a release material on one faceand pressure sensitive adhesive on the other, the labels formed byperforations in the web. Various alternatives are possible.

Still other RFID devices and methods for manufacturing RFID labels aredisclosed in United States Patent Application Publication No.US2001/0053675 by Plettner. The devices include a transponder comprisinga chip having contact pads and at least two coupling elements, which areconductively connected with the contact pads. The coupling elements aretouch-free relative to each other and formed in a self-supported as wellas a free-standing way and are essentially extended parallel to the chipplane. The total mounting height of the transponder correspondsessentially to the mounting height of the chip. The size and geometry ofthe coupling elements are adapted for acting as a dipole antenna or inconjunction with an evaluation unit as a plate capacitor. Typically, thetransponders are produced at the wafer level. The coupling elements canbe contacted with the contact pads of the chip directly at the waferlevel, i.e., before the chips are extracted from the grouping given bythe wafer.

In many applications, it is desirable to reduce the size of theelectronics as small as possible. In order to interconnect very smallchips with antennas in RFID inlets, it is known to use a structurevariously called “straps”, “interposers”, and “carriers” to facilitateinlay manufacture. Interposers include conductive leads or pads that areelectrically coupled to the contact pads of the chips for coupling tothe antennas. These pads provide a larger effective electrical contactarea than ICs precisely aligned for direct placement without aninterposer. The larger area reduces the accuracy required for placementof ICs during manufacture while still providing effective electricalconnection. IC placement and mounting are serious limitations forhigh-speed manufacture. The prior art discloses a variety of RFID strapor interposer structures, typically using a flexible substrate thatcarries the interposer's contact pads or leads.

One type of prior art RFID inlet manufacture using interposers isdisclosed in European Patent Application EP 1039543 A2 to MorganAdhesives Company (“Morgan”). This patent application discloses a methodof mounting an integrated circuit chip (IC) using an interposerconnected across a gap between two thin conductive film sections of aconductive film antenna. The interposer comprises a thin substratehaving two printed conductive ink pads. This method is said to besuitable for mass production of radio frequency identification tags(RFIDs) by mounting ICs on interposers that are then physically andelectrically connected to the antenna sections using a pressuresensitive conductive adhesive. The pressure sensitive conductiveadhesive provides a direct electrical connection between the interposercontact pads and the antenna sections.

Another type of prior art RFID inlet manufacture using interposers isbased on a technique for manufacturing microelectronic elements as smallelectronic blocks, associated with Alien Technology Corporation(“Alien”) of Morgan Hill Calif. Alien has developed techniques tomanufacture small electronic blocks, which it calls “NanoBlocks”, andthen deposit the small electronic blocks into recesses on an underlyingsubstrate. To receive the small electronic blocks, a planar substrate isembossed with numerous receptor wells 210. The receptor wells aretypically formed in a pattern on the substrate. For instance, thereceptor wells 210 may form a simple matrix pattern that may extend overonly a predefined portion of the substrate, or may extend acrosssubstantially the entire width and length of the substrate, as desired.Alien has a number of patents on its technique, including U.S. Pat. Nos.5,783,856; 5,824,186; 5,904,545; 5,545,291; 6,274,508; and 6,281,038.Further information can be found in Alien's Patent Cooperation Treatypublications, including WO 00/49421; WO 00/49658; WO 00/55915; WO00/55916; WO 00/46854 and WO 01/33621.

As noted above, RFID inlets using interposers provide an inherentadvantage in high speed manufacture by facilitating effective mechanicaland electrical connection of ICs to antennas. However, other substantialmanufacturing problems must be solved in order to provide an efficientinlay production process using interposers. U.S. Published PatentApplication No. 2003/0136503 A1, commonly assigned herewith, disclosesprocesses for producing RFID interposers and attaching the interposersto an antenna web. The interposers are severed or separated from awebstock or sheetstock with densely packed IC's (i.e. small pitchbetween adjacent ICs) and interposer leads. The interposers are thentransported, “indexed” (spread apart), and affixed in sequence to awebstock containing antennas that are typically spaced at a much higherpitch.

Other patent publications disclosing systems for attaching interposersto antennas to form RFID transponders include for example: US PatentApplication 2004/0089408 A1 (connecting micro-chip modules to antennasvia release from a carrier tape, then crimping or soldering to theantennas); Japanese Patent Application No. JP 2003 281491 A (mountingthe interposer to circuits using an electronically controlled, rotatingtransport members); and PCT publication WO 2005/076206 A 1 (continuousproduction of electronic film components by placing chip modules onantenna connections of antenna film sections).

Increases in demand for RFID labels and tags have necessitatedsubstantial increases in production capacity. It will be appreciatedthat higher production rates and lower costs for RFID devices would bedesirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the invention, a method of making RFID devicesincludes using a variable-speed feeder to cyclically feed a free end ofan interposer web into a cutting region. Individual interposerssingulated in the cutting region are transported for attachment toantennas on an antenna web. The transportation may be from a rotarytransporter, such as a rotary vacuum/anvil device. The cutting of theinterposer web may include butt cutting single interposers for eventualconnection to the antenna web.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method of cuttinginterposers from an interposer web includes using a multi-blade cutterto singulate an interposer, as well as to optionally cut unusableinterposers or extra web material away to be discarded. The extramaterial or unusable interposers may be removed from a cutting regionusing a suitable vacuum device, such as a vacuum chute.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, a method of forming anRFID device includes the steps of: feeding a free end of an interposerweb into a cutter, wherein the feeding includes moving the free end witha non-constant speed; butt cutting an interposer from the free end ofthe interposer web onto a rotary transport mechanism; transporting theinterposer on the rotary transport mechanism; transferring theinterposer from the rotary transport mechanism to a moving antenna web;and attaching the interposer to the antenna web, such that theinterposer is operatively coupled to an antenna of the antenna web.

According to still another aspect of the invention, a method of makingRFID devices includes the steps of: feeding portions of a free end of aninterposer web into a cutter, wherein the feeding includes feeding aninterposer of the interposer web and selectively feeding additionalmaterial at the free end of the interposer web; cutting, in an iterativeprocess, the interposer and the additional material, if any, from thefree end of the interposer web onto a rotary transport mechanism;transporting the interposer on the rotary transport mechanism;transferring the interposer from the rotary transport mechanism to amoving antenna web; and attaching the interposer to the antenna web,such that the interposer is operatively coupled to an antenna of theantenna web.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the inventioncomprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexeddrawings set forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of theinvention. These embodiments are indicative, however, of but a few ofthe various ways in which the principles of the invention may beemployed. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the inventionwill become apparent from the following detailed description of theinvention when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily to scale:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an RFID device fabrication system inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a high-level flowchart showing some steps of a method formaking RFID devices, using a system such as that shown in FIG. 1, inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an oblique view showing a portion of the interposer web ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an oblique view showing a portion of the antenna web of FIG.1;

FIG. 5 is an oblique view showing a portion of a web of RFID devicesmade using the system of FIG. 1, and by the method of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a side schematic view showing a first step in a cutting andattaching process using the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a side schematic view showing a second step in a cutting andattaching process using the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a side schematic view showing a third step in a cutting andattaching process using the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a side schematic view showing a fourth step in a cutting andattaching process using the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a side schematic view showing a fifth step in a cutting andattaching process using the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a side schematic view showing a first step in another cuttingand attaching process using the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a side schematic view showing a second step in the anothercutting and attaching process using the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is a side schematic view showing a third step in the anothercutting and attaching process using the system of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 14 is a side view of an alternate pressured belt device usable withthe system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method of making RFID devices includes feeding in an interposer web orsheet at a variable (non-constant) speed, cutting single interposersfrom the interposer web or sheet, and using a rotary transport device totransport the singulated (cut) interposers to an antenna web. Theinterposers are transferred from the rotary transport device and areattached to the antenna web, being operatively coupled to antennas onthe antenna web. The interposers each include an RFID transponder chipand conductive leads. The rotary transport device may be a vacuum anvilthat acts as an anvil to aid cutting of the interposers from theinterposer web, and uses suction to keep the interposers coupled to therotary transport device. A feeder is used to advance the interposer webor sheet into a cutting zone between the rotary cutter and the rotarytransport device. The rotary cutting device may be capable ofsingulating multiple interposers at one time, and the system may becapable of thus being able to remove interposers that are not to bejoined to the antenna web, for instance interposers that have failedtesting, thereby removing these unwanted interposers.

FIG. 1 shows a fabrication system 10 for fabricating RFID devices, andFIG. 2 shows some steps of a method 100 that uses the fabrication system10 in order to make RFID devices. The general goal of the system 10 andthe method 100 is to cut or otherwise singulate interposers 12 of aninterposer web 14, and attach the interposers 12 to operatively couplethe interposers 12 to antennas 16 on an antenna web 18. Thus RFIDdevices 20 are produced, with each of the devices 20 including aninterposer 12 coupled to an antenna 16.

FIG. 3 illustrates one example of the interposer web 14 consisting of aplurality of the interposers 12. The interposer web 14 includes aninterposer substrate 22. Each of the interposers 12 includes a substratesection 24 of the substrate 22, upon which are located conductive leads26 and an RFID transponder chip 28.

The term “interposer,” as used herein, may refer to an integratedcircuit (IC) chip, electrical connectors to the chip, and interposerleads coupled to the electrical connectors. An interposer also mayinclude an interposer substrate, as described above, which may supportother elements of the interposer, and may provide other characteristicssuch as electrical insulation. The interposer may be elongate, as theinterposer leads extend from the IC chip. The interposer may beflexible, rigid, or semi-rigid. It will be appreciated that a variety ofinterposer configurations are available for coupling to antennas.Examples include an RFID interposer available from Alien TechnologyCorporation, and the interposer marketed under the name I-CONNECT,available from Philips Electronics. Further disclosures of interposersare found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,247, assigned to Alien TechnologyCorporation, and in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0136503 A1.

The interposer substrate 22 may be any of a variety of suitablematerials. Examples of suitable materials include high Tg polycarbonate,poly(ethylene terephthalate), polyarylate, polysulfone, a norbornenecopolymer, poly phenylsulfone, polyetherimide, polyethylenenaphthalate(PEN), polyethersulfone (PES), polycarbonate (PC), a phenolic resin,polyester, polyimide, polyetherester, polyetheramide, cellulose acetate,aliphatic polyurethanes, polyacrylonitrile, polytrifluoroethylenes,polyvinylidene fluorides, HOPEs, poly(methyl methacrylates), or a cyclicor acyclic polyolefin. Other suitable polymer materials may be utilizedfor the interposer substrate 22. Also, suitable non-polymer materials,such as paper, may also be used for the interposer substrate 22.

In the system 10 shown in FIG. 1 the interposer web 14 is shown as aroll material, being unwound from an interposer web supply roll 30. Itwill be appreciated that the interposer web 14 alternatively may be asuitable interposer sheet material, being provided in a plurality ofdistinct sheets.

The interposer web 14 illustrated in FIG. 3 is shown having a singlelane of the interposers 12, located adjacent to one another at aninterposer pitch 32 in a down-web direction 34. As used herein, the“pitch” of elements on a webstock or sheetstock means thecenter-to-center distance between adjacent elements. A lower pitch (lessdistance between adjacent elements) is sometimes referred to as a higherdensity pitch, and vice versa.

It will be appreciated that alternatively, the interposer web 14 mayhave multiple lanes of interposers in a cross-web direction 36. Suitablesplitting operations may be utilized, if desired, to separate amulti-lane into single lanes, prior to cutting or otherwise singulatingthe interposers 12.

A feeder 40 is used to advance the interposer web 14, for instancemoving the web by rotation of feeder rollers 42, which press upon andgrip the interposer web 14. In step 102 of the method 100, adetermination is made regarding the amount of a free end 44 of theinterposer web 14 that is to be advanced for the next cut. As explainedbelow in greater detail, the system 10 may be configured to cut multipleof the interposers 12 when a single cut is made on the interposer web14. This may allow for interposers that have failed testing or otherwisenot to be used, to be removed and discarded during the cutting process.Information regarding the location of unusable of the interposers 12 maybe used to control the feeder 40 to advance an extra amount of theinterposer web 14, when required to allow removal of unusable of theinterposers 12.

In step 104 of the method 100 the feed rollers 42 or other components ofthe feeder 40 are used to advance the desired amount of the free end 44of the interposer web 14. This advancement of the interposer web 14 maybe made at a variable, non-constant speed. The rotation of the feederrollers 42 may speed up and slow down to feed different amounts of theinterposer web 14, and/or as part of the cyclic process of feeding theinterposer web 14.

In step 108, one of the interposers 12 is singulated from the interposerweb 14 at a cutter/transporter 46. The cutter/transporter includes arotary cutter 48, a rotary transporter 50, and a roller 52. The free end44 of the interposer web 14 is cut between the rotary cutter 48 and ananvil that is part of the rotary transporter 50. The cutting may be buttcutting of the interposer web 14, singulating one of the interposers 12from the free end 44 of the interposer web 14, without leaving anymatrix of the material behind on the interposer web 14. It will beappreciated that use of butt cutting advantageously avoids having todeal with any remaining matrix material of the interposer web 14.However, it will be appreciated that other cutting methods, such as diecutting, shear cutting, or laser cutting, may alternatively be employedto singulate the interposer 12.

Optionally, a suction chute 58 may be positioned in proximity to acutting region 60. The suction chute 58 may be used to receive andremove additional material that is cut from the interposer web 14. Theremoval of this additional material may occur in step 110 of the method100. The additional material may include additional interposers that arenot to be attached to the antenna web 18, for instance additionalinterposers that have been already identified as unsuitable for use,such as by failing earlier-performed testing. Alternatively or inaddition, the additional material may include superfluous material fromthe interposer web 14, for instance material located between adjacent ofthe interposers 12 on the interposer web 14.

Following cutting at the free end 44 of the interposer web 14, thefeeder 40 may retract the interposer web 14, in step 112. In high-speedoperation, the interposer web 14 may overshoot the cutting region 60 forinertial reasons, and may need to be retracted by the feeder 40 prior tothe next cutting operation.

In step 114 of the method 100, the singulated interposer 12 istransported on the rotary transporter 50 from the cutting region 60 toan attachment region 64. As explained in greater detail below, therotary transporter 50 may be a vacuum anvil device that includeslocations that serve as an anvil during the cutting operation performedin the cutting region 60. Vacuum ports may also be located at the samelocations along the rotary transporter 50, enabling the singulatedinterposers 12 to be sucked toward and held against the rotarytransporter 50. As the rotary transporter 50 turns, the singulatedinterposers 12 are moved along to the attachment region 64, where theinterposers 12 are attached to individual antenna 16 of the antenna web18.

FIG. 4 shows one example of the layout of the antenna web 18, withmultiple antennas 16 spaced at an antenna pitch 70 in a down-webdirection 72. The antenna web 18 includes an antenna web substrate 74upon which conductive antenna patterns 78 of the antennas 16 rest. Theconductive antenna patterns 78 may be made by any of a variety ofsuitable processes for forming conductive patterns. The antennaconductive patterns may be made from, for example, copper, silver,aluminum or other thin conductive material (such as etched orhot-stamped metal foil, printed conductive ink, etched metal, sputteredmetal, etc.). It will be appreciated that a wide variety of suitableantenna patterns are known.

Besides the conductive antenna patterns 78, each of the antennas 16 mayinclude one or more adhesive pads 80 for securing the singulatedinterposers 12 to the antenna web 18. The adhesive pads 80 may includeany of a variety of conductive or non-conductive adhesives. The adhesivepads 80 may include pressure sensitive adhesives, conductive epoxyadhesives, and/or heat-curable adhesives. A wide variety of permanentpressure sensitive adhesives and heatcurable adhesives are well known inthe art. The pressure sensitive adhesive may be one of any number ofdifferent types of adhesives, such as acrylic and elastomeric pressuresensitive adhesives.

The antenna web substrate 74 may include any of a variety of suitablesubstrate materials, such as the materials mentioned above with regardto the interposer web substrate 22.

The antenna web 18 may be a roll material, which may be supplied in anantenna web supply roll 84. The antenna web 18 may be moved at asubstantially constant velocity to a take-up roll 86. As the antenna web18 passes between the rotary transporter 50 and the roller 52, thesingulated interposers 12 held by the transporter 50 may be releasedonto the antenna web at suitable positions relative to the antenna 16,in step 116. The release may be caused by the interposer 12 adhering tothe adhesive pads 80 on the antenna web substrate 18. Alternativelyother methods may be used to release the singulated interposers 12 fromthe rotary transporter 50 to the antenna web 18. For instance a releaseof the vacuum suction holding the singulated interposer 12 to the rotarytransporter 50 may be utilized to release the interposer 12.

Following release of the interposer 12 onto the antenna web 18, in theattachment region 64, there may be a need to cure the adhesive in step120, at a curing station 90 of the system 10. For heat-curableadhesives, suitable heating may be provided at the curing station 90.The completed web of RFID devices 94 may be wound up in the take-up roll86.

FIG. 5 shows the RFID devices 94, with the singulated interposers 12attached to and operatively coupled to the antennas 16. The interposers12 may be coupled in a face-down configuration with the conductive leads26 towards and/or in contact with the conductive antenna pattern 78.Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the interposers 12 may becoupled in a face-up configuration, with interposer substrate sections24 between the conductive leads 26 and the conductive antenna pattern78. It will be appreciated that various types of electrical coupling maybe provided between the conductive leads 26 of the interposer 12, andthe antenna conductive patterns 78 of the antennas 16. Variousmechanisms may be used to make a direct electrically or ohmicallyconductive connection between the interposer conductive leads 26 and theantenna conductive patterns 78. Alternatively, other sorts of electricalcouplings, such as capacitive coupling and/or magnetic coupling, may beused to operatively electrically couple the interposer conductive leads26 and the antenna conductive patterns 78.

Considering now exemplary dimensions, presented by way of example andnot limitation, in one label embodiment, the section is approximately7-8 mils thick, and the antenna coating is about 5-10 microns (0.2-0.4mils). The antenna may be coated on a plastic film such as Mylar, havinga thickness of approximately 2-5 mil. The thickness of this particularlabel embodiment, including a release-coated backing sheet, is betweenapproximately 15-20 mils.

It will be appreciated that the web of the RFID devices 94 may beprocessed further, as appropriate, to add layers or other features tomake RFID labels and/or tags. For example additional adhesive layers maybe added, additional protective or writable coatings or layers may beadded, etc. Additional processing steps may be performed as part of thesame roll-to-roll operation that includes coupling of the interposers 12to the antennas 16. Alternatively, the additional operations may beperformed in one or more different processes. Included in such processesmay be separation of the individual RFID devices from a web of suchdevices, and ultimate coupling of RFID devices to suitable objects.

FIGS. 6-10 schematically illustrate, in greater detail, steps in thesingulating of an interposer 12 from the interposer web 14, andtransporting and attaching the interposer 12 to the antenna web 18.

FIG. 6 shows the free end 44 of the interposer web 14 approaching thecutting region 50. The interposer web 14 is advanced by the feederrollers 42 of the feeder 40. As the interposer web 14 is being advanced,the rotary cutter 48 is turning, bringing one of the cutting blade sets200 into position to singulate one of the interposers 12 from theinterposer web 14. As illustrated, the rotary cutter 48 has two cuttingblade sets 200, each including a leading cutting blade 202 and atrailing cutting blade 204. In the illustrated embodiment the twocutting blade sets 200 are diametrically opposed from one another. Itwill be appreciated that the rotary cutter 48 may alternatively have adifferent number of cutting blade sets 200. It would be expected thatthe cutting blade sets 200 would be circumferentially evenly spacedabout the rotary cutter 48.

FIG. 7 illustrates the actual cutting operation to singulate theinterposer 12 from the free end 44 of the interposer web 14. Thetrailing blade 204 of the cutting blade set 200 makes contact with theinterposer web 14 as the interposer web 14 is pressed against an anvil210 of the rotary transporter 50. The anvil 210 is positioned around avacuum nozzle 212 through which a vacuum is maintained in order toreleasably secure the cut interposer 12 to the rotary transporter 50.Together, the anvil 210 and the vacuum nozzle 212 constitute a receivingstation 214 for receiving and transporting the singulated interposers12.

The actual cutting of the interposer 12, which may include butt cuttingthe interposer 12, is performed by the trailing cutting blade 204. Theleading cutting blade 202 may be used for removing additional unusableinterposers and/or additional material from the interposer web 14, aspart of the same cutting operation.

The free end 44 of the interposer 14 is held against the anvil 210 bythe suction provided through the vacuum nozzle 212. Once the interposer12 is cut or otherwise singulated, the suction through the vacuum nozzle212 holds the singulated interposer 12 against the rotary transporter50.

FIG. 8 illustrates movement of the singulated interposer 12 on therotary transporter 50. The rotary transporter rotates in a directionopposite to that of the rotary cutter 48 and the roller 52. The rotarytransporter 50 and the roller 52 may act in concert to advance along theantenna web 18. All of the rotary elements of the cutter/transporter 46(the rotary cutter 48, the rotary transporter 50, and the roller 52) mayrotate at substantially constant rates. Alternatively, it will beappreciated that the rotation rates of one or more of the elements maybe non-constant. For instance, the rotary transporter 50 may accelerateand decelerate throughout its rotation. As one example, the rotarytransporter 50 may be configured to be substantially stationary duringthe cutting operation to singulate one of the interposers 12, and mayaccelerate to move at approximately the speed of the antenna web 18 whenthe interposer 12 is deposited onto the antenna web 18. It will beappreciated that such a non-constant rotation of the rotary transporter50 may require that none of the stations 214 for receiving andtransporting the interposers 12 (consisting of the anvil 210 and suctionnozzle 212) are diametrically opposed to other stations 214. Thus theremay be an odd number of circumferentially distributed stations 214 aboutthe circumference of the rotary transporter 50. More broadly, it will beappreciated that the sizes, configurations, and rotation rates of therotary cutter 48, the rotary transporter 50, and the roller 52, may allbe suitably selected to attach the interposers 12 at the proper pitch ofthe antenna web 18.

As shown in FIG. 8, the free end 44 of the interposer web 14 mayovershoot the cutting region 60 after the cutting operation has beenperformed. This overshoot may occur because of inertial forces inaccelerating the interposer web 14 to advance it into the cutting region60 for cutting by the trailing cutting blade 204. It may be desirable tohave the interposer web 14 moving during the cutting operation, forexample to substantially match the speed of the rotary cutter 48 and/orthe speed of the rotary transporter 50. The overshoot may be taken up byretracting the interposer web 14, such as by reversing directions on thefeeder rollers 42 of the feeder 40, as is illustrated in FIG. 8. Thus itmay be desirable to advance and retract the interposer web 14 cyclicallyduring the cutting and transporting operation.

FIG. 9 shows the interposer web 14 retracted and ready to be advancedagain for another cutting operation on the free end 44. Meanwhile, thesingulated interposer 12 is advancing toward the attachment region 64.

FIG. 10 shows attachment of the singulated interposer 12 onto theantenna web 18. As described above, the attachment may include anadhesive attachment of the interposer 12 onto the antenna web 18.Alternatively or in addition the vacuum suction on the vacuum nozzle 212may be reduced or released to aid in releasing the singulated interposer12 from the rotary transporter 50. For instance, the rotary transporter50 may be configured such that the vacuum in the vacuum nozzle isreduced or eliminated automatically as the transporter 50 rotates tobring the singulated interposer in contact with the antenna web 18.

FIGS. 11-13 illustrate a modification of the process, where multipleportions of the interposer web 14 are cut in a single cutting operation.FIG. 11 shows the free end 44 of the interposer web 14 advancing intothe cutting region 60 between the rotary cutter 48 and the rotarytransporter 50. The suction chute 58 is positioned at a far side of thecutting region 60.

FIG. 12 illustrates the cutting. Both of the cutting blades 202 and 204of the cutting set 200 butt cut the free end 44 of the interposer web14, against the anvil 210 of the rotary transporter 50. One cut portionof the interposer web 14 is the singulated interposer 12 between the twocutting blades 202 and 204. The singulated interposer 12 is releasablysecured to the rotary transporter 50 by use of the vacuum nozzle 212, ina similar manner to the method shown in FIGS. 6-10 and described above.

An additional cut portion 220 of the interposer web 14 is beyond thefront cutting blade 202, at the free end 44 of the interposer web 14.This additional portion 220 is a portion of the interposer web 14 to bediscarded. The additional portion 220 may include one or moreinterposers that are not to be attached to the antenna web 18. Forexample the additional portion 220 may include one or more interposersthat have failed testing, and thus are to be discarded. Alternatively orin addition, the additional portion 220 may include parts of theinterposer web 14 that are between adjacent pairs of the interposers 12,and are to be discarded as unnecessary for connection to the antenna web18.

FIG. 13 illustrates the immediate aftermath of the cutting operation.The singulated interposer 12 is secured to the rotary transporter 50,and is being transported toward the antenna web 18. The joining of thesingulated interposer 12 to the antenna web 18 may follow thereafteralong the lines described above with regard to FIGS. 9 and 10.

The additional portion 220 is directed into the suction chute 58 and istransported out of the cutting region 60, to be eventually discarded. Itwill be appreciated that a suitable vacuum source may be used to providesuction for operating the suction chute 58, and to pull the additionalportions 220 into the suction chute, and to a location to be eventuallydiscarded.

It will be appreciated that many advantages result from removingunusable of the interposers 12 early in the process, before the failedinterposers are connected to the antenna web 18. Once connected to theantenna web 18, greater amounts of material must be discarded, since notonly the failed interposer must be discarded, but also the correspondingantenna 16 and part of the antenna web 18 as well. Also, the processillustrated in FIGS. 9-11 avoids the complications that ensue fromhaving to somehow remove failed interposers or RFID devices in a laterprocess step.

The systems and methods described herein allow for connection ofinterposers having a first pitch to antennas on an antenna web having asecond pitch. The feeder 40 may also be used to adjust the amount ofadvancement of the interposer web 14 to account for variable pitch amongthe interposers 12 of the interposer web 14, and/or to account forunusable interposers on the interposer web 14. It will be appreciatedthat information regarding the location of good interposers on theinterposer web 14 may be supplied to the feeder 40 by any of a varietyof suitable methods. For instance, the feeder 40 may be directly coupledto a test device that examines or tests the interposers 12, with theinformation on the test results being used to suitably advance theinterposer web 14 for butt cutting and use of the next available goodinterposer 12 on the interposer web 14. Also information on positioningof the interposers 12 on the interposer web 14 may be supplied to thefeeder 40. Such information may be obtained by various suitable devices,such as optical scanners that locate the position of the interposers 12and/or index marks indicating the position of interposers on theinterposer web 14. Information regarding the interposers may be provideddirectly to the feeders 40, or may be provided in the form of varioustypes of suitable computer-readable media.

FIG. 14 shows an alternative pressure lamination member 250 that may besubstituted in place of the roller 52. The pressure lamination member250, which may be a metal or polymeric belt, may be used for bonding theinterposers 12 on the rotary transporter 50 to the antennas 16 on theantenna web 18. The use of a rotating pressure lamination member 250provides an extended zone of elevated pressure and/or temperature tofacilitate adhesive curing, and formation of a durable, bond between theantenna 16 and the interposer 12. One or more additional set of belt orroller combinations (not shown) can be provided to further extend thezone of bond formation between the antenna 16 and the interposer 12.

Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to acertain preferred embodiment or embodiments, it is obvious thatequivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled inthe art upon the reading and understanding of this specification and theannexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functionsperformed by the above described elements (components, assemblies,devices, compositions, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a“means”) used to describe such elements are intended to correspond,unless otherwise indicated, to any element which performs the specifiedfunction of the described element (i.e., that is functionallyequivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosedstructure which performs the function in the herein illustratedexemplary embodiment or embodiments of the invention. In addition, whilea particular feature of the invention may have been described above withrespect to only one or more of several illustrated embodiments, suchfeature may be combined with one or more other features of the otherembodiments, as may be desired and advantageous for any given orparticular application.

1. A method of making RFID devices, the method comprising: feedingportions of a free end of an interposer web into a cutter, wherein thefeeding includes feeding an interposer of the interposer web andselectively feeding additional material at the free end of theinterposer web; cutting, in an iterative process, the interposer and theadditional material, if any, from the free end of the interposer webonto a rotary transport mechanism; transporting the interposer on therotary transport mechanism; transferring the interposer from the rotarytransport mechanism to a moving antenna web; and attaching theinterposer to the antenna web, such that the interposer is operativelycoupled to an antenna of the antenna web.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein cutting includes using a rotary cutter to cut the interposeronto an anvil of the rotary transport mechanism.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein the rotary cutter includes multiple blades configured forcontacting different locations on the free end of the interposer web ina single cutting operation and the multiple blades include a leadingblade for cutting the additional material, if any; and a trailing bladefor cutting the interposer.
 4. The method of claim 1, including anadditional step of testing the interposer web prior to the step ofcutting.
 5. The method of claim 1, including an additional step ofaffixing the interposed to the antenna web after the step of attachingby one of curing, bonding, crimping or the like.
 6. The method of claim1, wherein the feeding is done by a variable speed feeder to cyclicallyfeed the free end of the interposer web into the step of cutting.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, including an additional step of singulatinginterposers after the step of cutting.
 8. The method of claim 1,including an additional step of removing failed interposers after thestep of cutting.
 9. The method of claim 1, including an additional stepof positioning the interposer web in a cutting zone prior to the step ofcutting.
 10. The method of claim 1, including an additional step ofapplying an adhesive coated release liner to the antenna web after thestep of attaching to form an RFID inlay label stock.
 11. A fabricationsystem for making an RFID inlay intermediate web for use as label stock,comprising; an interposer stock having a first pitch, the interposerstock having an integrated circuit provided on a polymeric material; atransporter for moving the interposer stock; a cutter for separating theinterposer stock into individual interposers; a tester for testing eachof the individual interposers; a rotary transporter for accepting theindividual interposers and moving the individual transporter an antennaweb; an antenna web handler for moving the antenna web in proximity tothe rotary transporter to receive the individual interposer, the antennaweb along with the interposer form an RFID inlay intermediate web havinga second pitch distinct from the first pitch; and; adhesive applicatorfor applying an adhesive and release material to the RFID inlayintermediate web to form an RFID inlay label stock.
 12. A system asrecited in claim 11, wherein the interposer stock is provided in a rollformat.
 13. A system as recited in claim 11, wherein the interposerstock is provided in a cut sheet format.
 14. A system as recited inclaim 11, wherein the second pitch is greater than the first pitch. 15.A system as recited in claim 11, wherein the interposer stock isprovided with a plurality of lanes of interposers.
 16. A system asrecited in claim 11, including a removal chute for discarding failedinterposers.
 17. An RFID label produced in accordance with the method ofclaim 1.